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Munster 41 Bourgoin 23: Six-try Munster steam on

On the surface, it was as we expected. The champions got their win and had the bonus point wrapped in the 56th minute when Donncha O’Callaghan galloped away from a maul for his second extravagant touchdown in the space of six days. Business as usual back at Fortress Thomond? No, not quite.

It was an imperfect performance by Munster against a Bourgoin side that turned up to play, even though their chances of qualifying had essentially ended after losing at home to Cardiff last week. They caused Munster problems at the scrum and kept going despite a crippling finish to the first half when they leaked two tries with a man in the sin-bin. When Florian Denos scored a breakway try in the 51st minute, they found themselves in the unlikely position of trailing by just seven points, at 20-13.